


Fugitives for Hire

by Kerry_0506, Q (King_Loki_Laufeyson)



Category: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: AU, Adapted from RP, Benji and Q are badass hackers, Gen, Techopathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-16
Updated: 2013-02-16
Packaged: 2017-11-29 11:42:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/686582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerry_0506/pseuds/Kerry_0506, https://archiveofourown.org/users/King_Loki_Laufeyson/pseuds/Q
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Best friends Benji Dunn and ‘Q’ are two skilled underground hackers on the run from the law.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fugitives for Hire

**Author's Note:**

> This is originally an RP by scrabblemug (Q) and benji-tech-dunn (Benji). I (scrabblemug) copied it over because I was bored one morning and someone wanted to read it. Anyway, Enjoy!,

Alex sat at his computer, fingers dancing across the keys as he typed. It was 2am in the morning and he and Benji were hacking a large company to find, take and then remove evidence of quite a large selection of files. Usually, due to his technopathy, Alex would do most of the work but their last job had left him in pieces so he was taking a bit of a break. It was good to be back to just plain hacking, of course he could see the files and know where he needed to hack but he was doing it manually.

He grabbed the glass of water next to his computer and took a couple of gulps before focusing his eyes back on the screen.

This scenario was commonplace for Benji and Alex. They were both incredibly good hackers so had set themselves up as ‘Hackers for Hire.’ Their work wasn’t strictly speaking legal but they earned a lot and they hadn’t been caught yet. Their current job, given to them by a large multinational company, was to hack their rival company and find vital information on how the companies future plans. Nothing too hard…or at least. They’d had worse.

‘How are you doing with the security on the mainframe?’ Alex asked Benji, his eyes not leaving the screen. They had been at it most of the night. As much as Benji loved doing what they did, he had to admit it was exhausting.

Running a hand over his eyes, Benji sighed, blinking a few times as he continued to work. They were almost through. “Getting there. Shouldn’t be much longer.” he replied, pulling his hands away from the keyboard for a moment to shake his wrists out. All of this typing was giving them cramp. “Progress over there?”

‘It’s been good. I’d say I’ve got about 80% of the files we need.’ Alex replied, his fingers not skipping a beat as he spoke. He glanced at the clock. Their deadline was 5am. It was when people would start getting into work and when people could start noticing something was up. Also the company they were doing this for wanted the information by 6am.

Then everything changed. Someone was fighting back. ‘No, no, no, no, no, no!’ Alex almost shouted at the screen. ‘Are you seeing this?’

Benji nodded at the words and was about to comment when Alex suddenly began to panic. “What? What’s going on?” He rose from his chair and rushed to his friend’s side to see the screen. “Shit, someone’s caught on… Just shut it all down. Don’t give them enough time to tr-” Suddenly the screen before them went black. A glance at his own computer showed the exact same thing. This was so not good.

‘Shit.’ Alex said, his hands hovering over the keyboard for a couple of seconds before he sprang into action. ‘We need to get out. Now.’ He said, grabbing bags and packing them, using his technopathy to salvage the files from the hard drive, saving them onto his laptop before whoever had found them had a change to destroy it.

Benji was moving the second the other had spoken, gathering up the items that were essential. Which was pretty much everything.

He packed everything in his bag, rushing as quickly as he could. They had to get out and fast. A company of their standing would no doubt have people on the scene within minutes. If they were caught they were screwed.

Alex had his bag packed in moments. He grabbed his coat, his phone and anything else they might need before putting his bag on his back. ‘Ready?’ He asked, mentally destroying everything in all the technology they were going to have to leave.

Benji stood up straight, grabbed his car keys and nodded, bolting for the door. “We’ve gotta get as far away as we can. Lay low for a little while.” he said, not looking back as he spoke.

Alex followed quickly after Benji, short circuiting the lights and any remaining electronics before heading towards the car. ‘I agree.’ He said, opening the boot and putting his bags in before heading to the passenger side. Benji threw his bag to Alex to put in the boot and climbed in the driver’s side, turning the engine over, taking off the second his friend was in the car. “Ok, where can we go? Any ideas? We should probably get out of the city att least.” The one thing going their way was that at that time of night, the roads were dead.

Alex nodded, strapping himself in. ‘Maybe West? We’ve not been down that way for a while and there’s quite a few major towns in that area. I could plant a trail in a couple of other directions, give us some time.’

“Great.” Benji replied. “That should buy us some time.” He turned a corner and headed straight down the road that would take them to the nearest motorway. If they could make it to Cornwall by sunrise, they would be fine.

Alex nodded, accessing the computer in the boot with his mind, setting up a trail heading to Birmingham.

Once they were on the motorway, Benji felt a little better. He still couldn’t relax, knowing how close they had come to getting caught, but he felt relief that they were on their way to some form of safety.

Alex looked up sharply as he felt a speed monitor. He spotted the police car at the side of the road. ‘Benji! Slow down. Police!’ He said quickly before he saw the flashing blue lights come on. Wonderful.

Benji heard Alex’s shout and almost swerved because of the fright, hearing the sirens behind them. “Fuck!” He banged his hand on the steering wheel and let the car drift sideways to pull over for the police. “Shit, shit, shit…” He muttered under his breath as he rolled down the window.

Alex gulped hoping that the policeman would give them a warning and then leave it at that. He saw the man leave the car and head towards them. ‘What do we do?’ He asked, trying to stop himself from panicking.

Benji’s heart was pounding but he had to keep it together. “Just stay calm.” he said, softly, before turning to the police officer, license at the ready. “Evening sir.” The officer looked at his license and then to him. “Mr Dunn, can you please explain why you were driving ten miles an hour over the designated speed limit?” Benji sighed. “I’m sorry, sir. I really didn’t realise…” He tried to act as innocent and apologetic as possible.

Alex sat there in the passenger seat, watching, everything seemed to be going well but he was still internally panicking. He prayed the man wouldn’t do a spot background check. He had groaned when the police announced they would be doing them more often.

Then the police officer brought out the device needed to do one. He could have cried. They were doomed. Benji wanted to hit his head on the steering wheel when the officer said those words.

* * *

Less than half an hour later, they were sitting in the police station answered a multitude of questions.

They were royally screwed.

Alex sat next to Benji in the interrogation room, the metal of the handcuffs grating against his skin. He had already taken advantage of their location and searched their whole criminal record. It was bad. He’d have to remove it, well, when they ever managed to get out of here. After about 2 hours of questioning they sat in the police station holding cell as their fate was decided. ‘Well this is fabulous.’

When they were placed in the holding cell, Benji was glad that the handcuffs were removed, the skin around his wrists raw from the metal. He rubbed at them and sighed, pacing the cell. “Alex, look, if you can somehow clean your own slate for this, I’ll take the fall. It’s my fault we got caught.” He looked away from his friend.Alex looked up at Benji as if he was insane. ‘Benji. Even though I could do that, I’m as deep in this as you are, I’m not going to leave you to be sent to jail when I get the ‘Get out of jail free card’ It just doesn’t work like that.’

Benji gave a shrug and let his back rest against the back wall of their cell. Rubbing a hand over his eyes, he let out a small groan. “This is fucked, man… How did they catch us?”

‘The policeman had a device in his pocket that let him know if we were known criminals or not. Quite impressive although the fact we actually have a criminal record is what worries me.’ Alex replied, watching the other. ‘I should have been more vigilant. If I had noticed I could have wiped it before this all happened.’

Benji sighed. “Alex, that’s not your responsibility to see that. There was no way you could have known and without suspecting that we had the record, you’d have no reason to be looking there.”

‘Well I could have least checked.’ He replied. ‘Doesn’t matter now anyway, whoever’s fault it was or we pretend it to be we’re in here now and we have to get our way out.’

Nodding, Benji pushed himself off the wall and began to pace again, searching his brain for a way to get them out when suddenly, the sound of a door opening down the hall. He glanced over to Alex and swallowed hard. This was it.

Alex looked up at the sound but frowned when he saw the two men, one of which was wearing a suit, not a police uniform. ‘You had better count your blessings, your bail’s been posted.’ The Policeman said, unlocking the door.Benji’s brow furrowed at the sentence. Bail? Sure, neither he or Alex wanted to go to prison, but they were criminals. Why would anyone want to pay their bail? He turned to his friend, hoping that he wasn’t as clueless as he was.

Alex found the man’s phone quickly, found his workplace even faster after that. He gulped then stood quietly. He was pretty sure they would probably choose prison after whatever this man was going to do to them. He turned to Benji, sending a message to the phone that he would be picking up from the station in about a minute, letting him know the identity of their so called savior. ‘Thank you.’ He said quickly before leaving the cell, hoping Benji was straight behind him.

Benji saw the way his friend was acting and felt rather confused, unsure as to why Alex was suddenly taking off so hurriedly. He smiled at the men before following the younger man out of the cell. “Alex, what is it?” he whispered when they reached the room to pick up their bags. He pulled his phone from his backpack and when he saw the text message, he froze.

Alex turned to Benji and nodded sending another message to the other’s phone. ‘I think we’re going to wish we were in prison.’ Nodding at Alex’s next message, Benji grabbed up his stuff. “Let’s just get out of here and keep driving.” he whispered, moving towards the doors. As soon as he stepped out of the front, two men appeared before them. Alex moved forwards trying to get past but they pushed him back. ‘Get in the car.’ One of them said, pointing to a sleek black car, the kind you see in crime dramas. He looked at them ‘I think there’s been a mistake and we really need to get going.’ he tried. The other man looked at him. ‘No mistake. Get in the car.’ Alex gulped, glancing at Benji. Benji stared up at the man in front of him; he was taller and definitely better built than himself. There was no way of fighting their way out. At the second demand for them to get in the shady looking car, the man nearest Benji gripped his arm, not enough to cause a scene, but enough to show him that they weren’t joking. Benji let himself be led to the car, hoping that Alex was behind him. Alex’s arm was grabbed by the other man and they were taken to the car and thrust into the back seat, the doors closing as soon as they were in. And then they drove off.

There was a partition between the drivers seat and the back seat, it seemed as if it was designed to be a chauffeur driven vehicle. He sighed and sat up straight, putting on his seatbelt. ‘We’re doomed.’ he muttered, watching his now very shaky hands. Once the doors to the car were closed, he finally made eye contact with Alex and swallowed hard. They were definitely in deep shit now. “We’re gonna get out of this.” Benji said, trying to reassure his friend. But he wasn’t even sure that he could convince himself of that. Not after being bundled into a car by the men they had been caught trying to hack. ‘How.’ Alex replied, looking straight at the other. He could feel the technology in the car, not as loudly as he could hear phones or computers but there was still the dull drone of the electricity powering through it. He could try and cut the battery but that could potentially kill them if they were anywhere dangerous and the blacked out windows made it hard to see where they were. He sighed, irritated that the car didn’t have sat nav either. Who didn’t have sat nav nowadays. He checked Benji’s phone, tracking their location.

‘I think we’re going back to London.’ Benji thought on Alex’s response and knew that his friend had a point. They really were stuck and there was no way out. Benji sighed, resting his head against the window, the cool glass being rather pleasant on his warn forehead. His palms were sweating as he tried to calm his nerves. He wondered what the men wanted with them. Information? Punishment? Or maybe something worse? After an hour or so of panic the car stopped, and the sound of people getting out of the front brought Alex to his senses. He undid his seatbelt quickly, the door opening before a sack was put on his head. Being dragged out of the car and pulled towards somewhere he didn’t know was incredibly disconcerting but the pair of feet shuffling beside him told him that Benji was with him. That was always reassuring. The computers told him that they were in the headquarters of the company they had been attempting to hack, the computer they had been accessing in the room that it appeared they were being taken to. He debated stopping the lift but with the men’s hands so tight around his wrists he didn’t want to risk it. They were pushed out briskly into the hall and then pushed towards the office, doors opening before they were made to sit, the sack taken off only when they were. The second the door had opened, the bag was pulled over his head, stealing his vision away. He could only let himself be led to wherever they were taking them, hoping that Alex was still with him. The hold the men had on him was uncomfortable, their grips tight, but he didn’t dare struggle, worried that if he did their situations might become even worse. He was forced into a chair and, when the bag was taken off, he looked around the room. There were several men surrounding them, however it was the one sitting behind the desk before them that spiked his curiosity the most.

‘Evening Gentlemen. Now. Before I ask you why you were snooping around in my companies files, because, well, we all know the answer to that. I have a little suggestion Don’t get caught.’ Alex gulped, his eyes focused on the desk, not on the man behind it. He dared not turn to look at Benji, his shoulders locked in position. ‘You’re going to do a favour for me as an apology for hacking into my systems. Understand?’ Benji tried not to slump down in his chair as the man spoke, remaining strong in his posture and trying to keep an emotionless face. He could see Alex in his peripheral but did not look at him, keeping his eyes firmly on the man speaking to them. “Sir?” he asked, opting that politeness was the best way to go. The man that appeared to be the head of the company then nodded, his smile poisonous.

‘Well then, here you go.You can use your own laptops, if I see you in my systems you die.’ He took a file Alex hadn’t noticed on his desk and handed it out, offering it to Benji. ‘You have 4 hours, if it’s not done by then well….you’ll be losing your jobs…permanently.’ The boss left, all but one of the lackeys leaving after him. Benji took the file handed to him and glanced back up at the man. He swallowed hard and nodded before watching the men depart the room. It was then that he managed to turn and throw a nervous glance to Alex.

Alex looked at Benji motioning to the file. ‘What does it say?’ He asked, taking out his laptop and starting to type, getting through the security on his own laptop. Benji opened the file and looked down at it. “The company who hired us have some blueprints for something this company created… We have to get them back.” He glanced up at Alex when he finished speaking. ‘Well at least we’ve already been given access. That won’t take long to hack.’ Alex said, his fingers flying on the keys. Benji nodded, grabbing out his laptop and placing it on his knee. They had limited time, but at least it was hopefully going to be an easy hack. Alex pushed his glasses up his nose and then returned to typing, using the passwords the company had given them to get into the system. ‘Now, where could they be? Obviously under a lot of security but where.’ Benji chewed on the inside of his mouth as he searched. “I don’t think they will have them somewhere obvious. For example, look in files that one normally wouldn’t store these kinds of documents under.” Alex nodded. It was at this point he was getting annoyed at himself for using his technopathy so much in the last mission. It took a while for him to build up the energy and right now, it would be so much easier if he could just completely delve into the computer and find the information. He could have it in minutes! There was also the little problem of the man standing in the corner of the room watching, he would prefer it if he could keep his technopathy a secret.

Benji continued to work, small beads of sweat running down his temple. The pressure of what was at stake, combined with the presence of the man in the corner were getting to him. He had never before felt so nervous about a job. 'Is it true?’ Alex looked up sharply at the sound of the man talking, the guard was looking directly at him.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Rumor says one of you is a technopath.’

‘Rumor.’ Alex said, returning to his work.

‘I want to see.’ The guard said, one of his hands inching to where his gun was. Benji turned his head when he heard the exchange between Alex and the guard. He stared at his friend, swallowing hard but trying to not look phased by the demand. He wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t sure how the man knew about Alex’s ability, but clearly he didn’t know which one of them possessed the ability. The guard looked between them before moving forwards, drawing his gun and pointing it straight at Alex’s head. ‘I want to see.’ He demanded again, the cold metal of the gun stilling any movement of Alex’s head. Benji watched the man rush forward and the next thing he knew there was a gun aimed at his friend’s head. He wasn’t sure what to do or how this man had heard about the technopathy, but he had to do something.

“He doesn’t have it.” Benji suddenly blurted out. He felt the man’s eyes on him, though the gun stayed aimed at Alex’s head. “What?” The voice snapped. “I said, he doesn’t have it.” Benji spoke through clenched teeth. Alex directed his eyes towards Benji, the other sitting just in his peripheral vision. He widened his eyes as a warning. He felt the guard push him with the gun and then the metal was gone, he looked up watching the guard move over, putting the gun to Benji’s head. ‘Show me.’ Benji felt relief when the gun was away from his friend’s head, but his nerves returned a little when he felt the cool metal against his own head. He avoided making eye contact with Alex, not wanting to see the look in his eyes. “Show me right now then.”

“It’s just a rumour.” Benji said. “There is no technopathy. It’s just some story made up by some kids.” He felt the gun pressed harder into the base of his skull. “Don’t fucking lie to me.” Alex watched Benji and saw the guard move his finger, making it hover over the trigger, he watched it move, resting on the curved metal.

‘NO STOP!’ He shouted, looking at Benji, his eyes wide. Benji jumped when Alex suddenly shouted and his eyes flickered to look at him. “Decided to speak up now have we?” the man asked, the guns aim not leaving his head. ‘It’s me. Not him. I’m the technopath.’ Alex said, blinking quickly behind his glasses. Benji’s eyes went wide and he swallowed.

“What did you say?” the man asked. “No, it’s not.” Benji suddenly spoke up again. “It’s not him.” He glared at Alex as he spoke. Shut up Alex, I’m trying to save you, you idiot…

Alex looked at Benji. What was he doing? He had a plan now, he knew what he was going to do! The guard looked at both of them confused. ‘Shut up both of you.’ He then looked between them, pushing the gun towards Benji again. Benji shook his head at Alex and opened his mouth to say something but before he could utter a word, the guard swung the weapon, hitting him across the back of the head. Benji stumbled forwards as the blow left him dazed, gripping the desk so that he didn’t hit the ground. His vision blurred and he heard the man speak again. “Right. Now that he’s shut up, what were you saying then?” he asked, walking over and aiming the gun at Alex once more. Alex tried to move forwards to help Benji but stopped when he saw the gun at his head. ‘I’m the technopath. It’s not a rumor.’

‘Show me.’

‘How?’

‘Find the file…no hands.’

Alex took a deep breath and nodded. He looked at the screen and concentrated, his mind detaching slightly from his own to search the computer. He could go all the way in but the energy required to pull himself out wasn’t enough. So he sat there, probably looking quite zoned out as information filled his head, the data appearing quickly on screen and then vanishing as he deemed it irrelevant.

Benji’s head was swimming but he could hear the exchange between his friend and the guard, worried that Alex was going to get himself hurt. He reached up and felt some blood on the back of his head as he tried to climb back into his chair. Failing miserably, he settled for sitting on the ground next to the desk. The guard watched the screen in amazement, seeing files moving, chopping and changing as Alex searched. It was extraordinary.

Alex found the file quickly but didn’t let on, he kept other files opening and closing so it still looked like he was searching while he created a virus. It wasn’t hard, just a simple one to corrupt the file and take down both companies’ infrastructures. He felt himself getting deeper but he ignored it. If necessary Benji could snap him out, he was sure the other would find a way to convince the guard. As Benji’s vision began to clear, he could see the concentration on his friend’s face, the dedication… But there was something else there. He had a feeling in his gut that Alex has a plan, but something told him that he had to do something about it. “Look…” he said, voice a little groggy. “It’s gonna take him a while to get through the job. There’s no point in you watching the whole time. Mind getting me a tissue?” he asked. “Kinda got a little something back here.” He motioned to the back of his head sarcastically but the guard simply ignored him. “Or not…”

“You keep your mouth shut.” the guard said, turning back to the screen. After a few more seconds, Benji spoke up again. “So do you mind telling us how you found out about his abilities?” he asked, voice soft and none threatening. The guard glanced back over to him, causing him to worry that he would try something, but instead, he took the guns aim away from Alex and stepped across the room.

“You keep working.” he said to Alex. “Or I’ll put a bullet in your friends head and then yours once you’re done.” It had worked, the man’s attention was now back on him. Alex saw out of the corner of his eye what was going on and as soon as the Guard’s back was turned he praised Benji then, after perfecting the Virus, he attached it to the file and then the two computer systems before attempting to get out. That was the thing though….he couldn’t.

He tried to focus as hard as he could on the real world, trying to drag his mind out of the computer and into reality. He watched as circuit board after circuit board was corrupted, the virus moving through it spreading. He could watch the progress of the virus coming closer with every millisecond, his brain panicking as he tried to extricate himself from the computer. He had gone too deep, he had made it too easy for himself and now here he was, about to pay the price. He felt it come closer, probing the corner of his mind. Alex closed his eyes, hoping it would help him return to reality but it was too late.

The pain was unimaginable, piercing through his brain. He screamed out, the pain causing him to collapse, doubling over on the floor of the office. He was shaking, his breaths coming in short bursts, his mind roaring in agony. His eyes stayed firmly shut, not wanting to open them, not wanting to move anything again, just wishing that he could die.

Benji had been listening to the guard speaking but not really listening, however when he heard Alex crying out, he panicked. He could see the way he was bent over in apparent agony and initially he thought it might be some kind of trick, but the pain in his friend’s eyes was far too real. Staggering to his feet, Benji moved to help him, but the guard shoved him back down, pointing his gun at him. “You stay there.” the man said, keeping the gun trained on Benji as he approached Alex. Just as the man got closer, Benji launched himself at the weapon, grabbing out for it. The gun flew from the guard’s hand and he threw himself at it, landing on the floor and reaching out. As his fingertips brushed the metal, the guard grabbed his ankle, dragging him back from it. He kicked out, catching the man in the face and using the resulting distraction to check on his friend.Alex was still in pain and it hurt him, but he had to get that gun. Fortunately, the power of the punch he took to the jaw sent him tumbling backwards and he found himself within reach of the weapon. Grasping it in his hands, he aimed it at the guard just in time for the door to burst open and more armed men to come rushing in. “Don’t shoot!” Benji shouted, tasting the blood from his split lip as he spoke. “Please! We did the job, it’s done. This guy attacked us and my friend needs a hospital… Please…” The guns all remained aimed at him as he held his aimed at the guard. “You can check the computer if you like. The file is back in your hands and has been wiped from their records.” He risked a glance at Alex to see if he was alright.

Alex curled himself into a ball, his mind feeling like it was cutting itself in two, the half that had still been trapped in the computer when the virus hit feeling like he was being electrocuted while the other half strained with the effort of trying to pull the other half out. He had no idea how to stop the pain, he just knew the virus and knew that it wouldn’t stop until everything was corrupted. What that could do to a human brain Alex didn’t know, but he really didn’t want to find out. The two halves of his mind fought as he tried to gulp down bile that was rising in his throat. He faintly heard commotion and Benji’s voice but other than that he was oblivious.

Keeping the gun aimed at the guard, he watched as one of the other men approached Benji’s laptop. He searched and after a few agonising moments, the man nodded. “He’s telling the truth, sir. We’ve got it back.” A beat. Benji’s heart was racing, worried that now they had the file back they would just dispose of them. His eyes kept darting to his friend to check on him, terrified by what might have caused the pain. “Alright. Get them to a hospital.” The boss spoke up, stepping across to Benji. and forcing him to lower the weapon. “Maybe you’ll think next time before you try to hack our systems.” Benji nodded. “Bag them.” It was only a few seconds before the bag was placed over Benji’s head and he lost sight of Alex, hoping that he was alright.

Alex felt himself being carried to a car, the movement causing his body to fall limp in pain before eventually it knocked him out.

* * *

 

He awoke in a hospital bed, his brain still screeching out in agony, the other side though, slightly clearer. He curled back into the ball, again, praying for anything to take away the pain, he saw he was connected to a morphine drip and almost wanted to laugh. This wasn’t any ordinary illness and he highly doubted computer viruses could be treated by normal methods. He actually had no idea how it could be treated.

Benji remembered the moment when he and Alex were dumped on the doorstep of the local hospital. He remembered watching his friend being put on a stretcher and whisked away. It was then, once he knew Alex was in safe hands, that the adrenaline wore off, the exhaustion kicked in and that mixed with the concussion from the blow he took sent him tumbling to the ground. scr The next thing he knew, he was waking up in a bed, looking around frantically for Alex. Alex didn’t know how long he laid there but he vaguely remembered people trying to talk to him. He didn’t reply, he didn’t trust himself not to scream. He needed Benji, wherever he was. Why the idiot wasn’t there worried him, he had attempted to send texts but the fear of giving the virus to the other’s phone prevented him every time. After about an hour though he managed to create a clean text and send it, informing the other of his location and what was wrong. _Crane Ward, Side room 4, computer virus_. Benji was lying on his side, avoiding putting pressure on the back of his head, when his phone buzzed on the table next to him. He saw the message from Alex and his stomach turned. How the hell had he managed to get a computer virus? Then it hit him. It must have been something to do with the guard forcing him to use his abilities. Shit… Pulling the IV drip from his hand, ignoring the blood that formed there, he gripped his phone and made his way cautiously out of the room. He tried to avoid any nurses who would try and stop him as he made his way to find Alex. It took him far too long, ignoring the dizziness as he moved, but he soon found the right room. He knocked and pushed open the door carefully. Alex heard the knock on the door and then someone walking in. What reassured him was that they were carrying Benji’s phone.

While he had been waiting he had figured out a way to send clean messages reliably, keeping the virus isolated to whichever part of his brain it was torturing. This in mind, he sent another message to Benji’s phone. _Never making virus again. Hurts too much_. Benji saw Alex lying on the bed and his heart hurt. His friend was clearly in pain and he hated it. When his phone buzzed, he looked down and read the message, stepping over to Alex’s bedside and reaching out for his hand. “You idiot…” he said softly, squeezing his friend’s hand in his. Alex let out a sort of strangled noise that was supposed to be a laugh but probably sounded nothing like one. He sent another message. _Problem. How to fix it_. He squeezed his eyes shut again as another wave of pain hit, the virus getting irritated at the lack of technology. Benji looked down at his friend and felt his stomach twist. He had no idea what they could do to stop this virus… “Do you think you could wait it out? I mean, there’s no technology in your body for it to thrive off…” _Hope so. It seems to be trying to kill my brain cells_. Alex didn’t want to intentionally worry Benji but it would be better if the other knew exactly what was going on. Might give him an idea of how he could go about fixing it. If he could of course. Biting down on his lip, Benji felt more concern increase inside of him. What were they going to do? He was scared for his friend but he refused to let it show, squeezing his hand in an attempt to reassure him. Alex closed his eyes against another wave of pain willing sleep to come. _Can’t sleep. Need sleep meds._ He really thought that would be best. If he was asleep, the pain would be less and…if it would just wear itself out and give up, sleep would mean that it could be over when he woke.

“Oh, of course. I’ll be right back.” He replied with one say squeeze of the hand. He rushed to the door and beckoned a nurse, asking her for what he needed. Fortunately she only took a few moments before returning with the sedative. _Thank you_. Alex sent as the nurse injected the sedative into his IV drip, the drowsiness hitting him quickly, the pain trying and failing to fight back against it. Within the minute he was asleep.

Benji watched Alex fall asleep and decided to get some rest himself. Pulling up the chair next to the bed, he folded his arms on the edge of the mattress and dropped his head on them. He had to figure out something to help his friend.

* * *

Alex laid there when he woke up, trying to figure out how the virus had gone. It didn’t seem to have taken any functions away, he could still read his vitals off the computer without opening his eyes. He was much more relieved about that than he should have been. He felt a weight on the bed and opened his eyes, moving slowly out of the fetal position to see what was tilting the bed. It was Benji. He nudged his partner in crime slightly. ‘Benji.’ He whispered, not wanting to alert a nurse.

Benji heard the familiar voice and opened his eyes, lifting his head and glancing across to see Alex awake. “Hey…” He said, sleepily. “How are you feeling?”

‘Much better.’ Alex smiled, ‘Head feels a bit fuzzy but I don’t think it did any damage. Not that I can tell anyway.’ He re-positioned himself so he was sitting up more, controlling the height of the bed with technopathy instead of the remote control near his feet. ‘How are you?’

“I’m so glad.” He said, sitting up more. “How does the virus feel?" He placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder as he spoke.

‘Right now, I’m pretty sure it’s gone. Earlier.’ He shook his head. ‘You don’t even want to know.’ His eyes were wide as he spoke, remembering the pain. ‘Well I know I’ve never felt anything as painful.’

Benji nodded, smiling kindly. “I’m so glad. I was worried. You shouldn’t have done that. You almost killed yourself. Or at least wrecked your mind.”

‘I just wanted to do it quickly.’ Alex said, shrugging. ‘I can assure you now I’m never doing it again.’

“But still. You should have just denied the abilities.” He replied. “I know you had your plan, but going about it the slower way would have been safer for you…” He was just concerned for his friends safety.

‘And get ourselves killed?’ Alex asked. ‘That guard had his gun to your head, if I hadn’t done anything he could have shot you.’ Benji gave a shrug. “It’s a risk I was willing to take. Alex, you’re my best friend. You know what I’m like. When it comes to you I’d do anything to keep you safe…”

‘We’re both stubborn idiots, and we’ll go in circles if we keep on explaining our motives.’ Alex chuckled. Benji managed a laugh. “I guess you’re right. But I mean it…” He sighed a little. “But thank you… You shouldn’t have done that but thank you.”

‘It’s a pleasure.’ Alex replied, before propping himself up on his elbows and looking around. ‘So, any plans on how we get out of here?’ He asked smirking a bit. Benji glanced around. “Not a clue… I mean, once you’ve changed clothes, you wouldn’t look like you’ve been in hospital.” He noticed the purple and black bruising to the side of Alex’s eye from where the gun had been jabbed into his skin and it made Benji angry that he hadn’t beaten the guy more for hurting his friend. “And I think they stitched my head up so we could pass unnoticed…” Alex nodded.

‘Sounds good.’ He turned seeing his clothes in the cupboard beside his bed. ‘Ok I’ll get a distraction going.’ He zoned out a bit, setting off a couple of alarms in the ICU before refocusing and grabbing his clothes, taking out the IV in his arm and heading to the bathroom attached to his room. Once changed, he made sure he had remembered everything and then left his room.

Benji waited, trying to ignore the sounds drifting from down the hall. He glanced out of the window, seeing nurses rushing past while he waited for Alex to change. He glanced up when he heard the younger man appear once more and he stood, exiting the room cautiously. ‘I assume we were dropped off?’ Alex asked, walking out of the hospital into the car park filled with potential vehicles they could drive off in. “Yeah. They dumped us at the entrance… After that its a blur but my guess is our car is still at the station…” He replied, looking around. Alex nodded. ‘Ok well we didn’t really have anything too important in there did we?’ he asked. ‘I wiped the laptops when we were in the holding cell so we don’t really need to go back.’

“No, if you managed that then we’re good. We should just find somewhere to stay. Lay low for a while.” He suggested. “I think we could both use the rest.”

‘That sounds wonderful.’ Alex replied, ‘do you want to pick the car this time?’ He asked, motioning to the car park.

Benji smiled. “Sure.” He decided to go for something practical and not too stand out. Vauxhall Corsa seemed fine. “There. Will that suit?”

‘Subtle.’ Alex commented, unlocking the car and getting in, starting the engine once both of them were inside. ‘Where to?’ Benji climbed in and buckled up.

“Any kind of motel… My head is killing me and I need sleep.” He chuckled.

Alex chuckled. ‘Any kind of Motel it is.’ He said, pulling out of the car parking space and then out onto the roads, the guilt about stealing the car all but nonexistent.

Benji smirked back at his friend and closed his eyes, just wanting to rest them until they found somewhere to sleep.

They sure as hell deserved it.


End file.
